A Japan Football Association official told Daily Sports: "He felt uncomfortable in his lower back in practice yesterday, and we decided to wait a night and see how it looked, but he's not at 100 per cent so we're leaving him off. He didn't go to the hospital."

Kagawa himself has played down fears that he could be missing for some time for the Premier League champions, stating that he should be back soon.

"It [the injury] happened in yesterday's practice," he told Nikkan Sports. "I was holding the ball and went to make a move and in that instant it started to hurt.

"I won't take long [to recover]."

Manchester United host Wigan on the Premier League on Saturday before kicking off their Champions League campaign on the following Wednesday with another home match against Turkish side Galatasaray.